Weakness in oil prices, which briefly fell below $30.00 U.S. a barrel, added to worries over economic growth and pushed global markets lower, including those in Canada.
The S&P/TSX composite index stumbled 203.49 points, or 1.6%, to close Wednesday at 12,170.41, a fresh two-and-a-half-year low.
The Canadian dollar backtracked 0.05 cents to 69.66 cents U.S. early Thursday.
Dominion Diamond Corp said on Wednesday its executive chairman will step down and be replaced by Jim Gowans, a mining industry veteran, who will take over as non-executive chairman no later than April 30.
Canaccord Genuity cut the price target on AGF Management to $4.50 from $5.25, based on the company’s preview on fourth-quarter results.
theScore Inc reports Q1 numbers today, expecting a loss of a penny per share
Imvescor Restaurant Group xxpectsQ4 earnings of four cents per share
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada said its New Housing Price Index rose 0.2% in November, following a 0.3% increase in October. November’s gain was mostly due to higher prices in the combined region of Toronto and Oshawa as well as Greater Vancouver.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 4.6 points Wednesday to 495.72.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures, after bouncing around, are positive. Oil fears triggered sharp falls on Wednesday and put Wall Street in correction territory. But Asia closed down and Europe is in the red.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials moved ahead 85 point, or 0.5%, to 16,141, futures for the S&P 500 took on 10 points, or 0.5%, to 1,891.50. NASDAQ futures gained 11.75 points, or 0.3%, to 4,187.50
GoPro shares were down 25% in after hours trading after it reported weaker than expected Q4 revenue and cutting 7% of its workforce.
Tesco had a better than expected Christmas, helping shares in one of the world's biggest retailers jump more than 5% in a weak London market.
JP Morgan Chase reported revenue and earnings for the fourth quarter that topped Wall Street's expectations. The bank posted a quarterly profit of $5.4 billion U.S., up 10% from a year ago. Shares rose more than 1% in pre-market trading on the news.
Intel reports after the closing bell.
The weekly U.S. jobless claims report is due this morning from the Department of Labor.
Oil prices gained 34 cents to $30.82 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices settled $7.51 to $1,086.08 U.S. an ounce.
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